10 Gross Hygiene Trends That Were A Thing Back Then

Throughout history, people have gone to great lengths to keep clean, ward off diseases, and become more attractive.

We still do it today, and we’ll probably be shamed for it in the future, but nothing beats these 10 hygiene trends from history.

Seriously, what were people thinking…

1. Chicken poop to cure baldness.

The combination of chicken poop and potassium was thought to help hair grow back in the 17th century.

2. Poisonous plants used for blush.

Belladonna, a poisonous plant that works as a hallucinogen, was used to create the effect of blush. Women in the 16th and 17th century rubbed the leaves on their cheeks to give them flushed cheeks. There was definitely a chemical reaction going on there that made their cheeks red.

3. Removing body hair with x-rays.

In the early 20th century, people exposed themselves to deadly rays for more than 20 hours to make their hair fall out. Of course it worked, but they eventually developed cancer from all that radiation.

4. Dentures made out of the teeth of dead soldiers.

They would remove a soldiers’s teeth, place them in artificial gums, and give it to patients.

5. Crocodile dung used as contraception.

In ancient Egypt they believed these reptile droppings would prevent pregnancies. I really hope they didn’t insert the poo in their lady parts!